People often seem to understand the value of conservation lands better than politicians do.
One of the high points in recent environmental history in Polk County is the decision by the voters in 1994 to tax themselves to buy and preserve some of the county’s remaining environmental gems.
The grassroots effort was met with indifference if not outright hostility by the political establishment.
When some of those same officials attended the dedication ceremonies for these new environmental recreation areas a few years later, they acknowledged they had underestimated the idea’s public support and its contribution to the public good.
That’s why it was no surprise that the release of a list of conservation lands the state might consider selling off drew quick criticism from the public.
The list was politician-driven.
The Florida Legislature, for whom environmental protection hasn’t been a high priority in recent years, ordered state officials to come up with a list of land to sell to get money to buy other conservation lands.
Agency staffers didn’t have much choice but to try to come up with something.
The biggest chunk on the hit list involves several chunks of Hilochee Wildlife Management Area’s 6,083-acre Osprey Unit at the edge of the Green Swamp Area of Critical State Concern along Interstate 4 in Polk County.
This property was purchased in 2001 for two sound reasons: to provide passage for water and wildlife under I-4 and to provide more open space for the public in the rapidly urbanizing Four Corners area.
There has been much discussion recently by advocates of the restoration of the Everglades about what a barrier the section of the Tamiami Trail between Naples and Miami has been to regional conservation and water management.
The result has been the construction of a number of bridges to replace the decades-old solid embankment to correct water flow and wildlife passage problems that were unrecognized when the road was built across the southern part of the state before Everglades National Park was created.
I-4 has created a similar barrier across the central part of the state.
The Green Swamp is, in many ways, Central Florida’s Everglades.
Hilochee is the last large tract along that corridor that offers an opportunity to correct past environmental mistakes.
One of the parcels that was listed for disposal actually contains a passageway under the highway that was built to accommodate a rancher whose property was bisected by the highway.
More and better connections have been proposed.
I’ve been all over Hilochee, though it requires some effort since access is limited and it’s a large tract.
My first view was by helicopter when the property was proposed for some sort of industrial park.
I remember seeing large winter flocks of sandhill cranes in a marsh on the property. It was an impressive landscape.
Today the landscape is less impressive because of the natural resource exploitation and wetlands destruction that occurred on the property while the never-realized plans for the industrial park remained on hold.
Eventually, the state bought the property.
But other than a couple of walk-through gates, little has been done to restore the property or to promote much public recreation other than limited hunting.
As a result, neither the environmental restoration needed to realize the land’s natural resource benefits nor the recreational development that would have made it a regional nature park ever materialized.
As a result, it’s not hard to understand why some state officials may have regarded parts of Hilochee WMA as a collection of derelict tracts that might be suitable for disposal.
According to the comments coming in from environmentalists and representatives of other government land-management agencies, that’s a short-sighted view.
True conservation initiatives, such as the creation of the national park system and Florida’s commitment through the state’s Florida Forever and Preservation 2000 programs, take the longer view.
Florida’s population has increased 800 percent in my lifetime and there’s no reason to think the future will be any different.
Conservation land to protect what’s left of Florida’s natural resources will become more valuable to future generations.
If anything we should be buying, not selling.
Future generations will thank us.
BUTTERFLY PROGRAM
Polk County butterfly enthusiasts Buck and Linda Cooper will explain why butterflies matter at the next meeting of the Heartland Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 18 at Circle B Bar Reserve’s Nature Discovery Center lecture hall.
The Coopers will discuss how butterflies benefit from the increased use of native plants and how the preservation and management of large tracts of public land aids the survival of rare butterfly species.
The program is free and open to the public. Circle B Bar Reserve is located at 4399 Winter Lake Road, Lakeland.

About This Blog

Tom Palmer is a native Floridian who has spent decades exploring and getting to know Florida’s natural areas and becoming familiar with the diversity of wildlife in the state. He is an avid birdwatcher and butterfly watcher. He also has assisted in many land stewardship projects and occasionally has time to slip into his kayak and explore some more.